Have you ever had a day where everything falls into place?

Literally all day long…you pull up to a red light and it turns green. You pull up to do an errand and every parking space is filled except for the one right in front of the store. You think of a person who you haven’t talked to in a while and the phone rings within seconds, their name flashing across your phone.

You know, that kind of day.

I had that kind of day on Friday, April 14, 2023.

It started at 6:30 in the morning when my son texted me, “Happy Anniversary, Mom!!!!!” with about five exclamation points. “Want to meet for breakfast before you go to Fitchburg for the day?”

It was a beautiful start to my day. Especially given that my son really struggled with trusting me for the first few years of my sobriety, and I love my relationship with him. He’s one of the most amazing human beings I know, and I’m so overjoyed that he lives ten minutes from me now and that we can see each other for these casual get-togethers.

My next stop was visiting Fitchburg for the day, where there just happened to be a graduation for the sheriff department’s jail diversion program. This program in Fitchburg is really one of a kind. I’m sure there are others around the country like it, but it’s like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The commitment to these individuals who are offered treatment over jail is quite spectacular.

The chief of police is involved, the mayor is involved, the judge from the local court is involved, probation officers, counselors, case managers—it’s a true community effort, and people work really hard coming back from the depths of struggles with addiction. The graduation is once a year, and this year it happened to be on my anniversary, the day I happened to decide to visit.

So I got to see Judge Loconto, Chief Martineau, Mark Leary, Carrie Le Blanc, and so many old peers and friends. And I sat for two hours and witnessed people celebrating their recovery and their coming-back story and their shares of raising their credit score and having a baby and buying a house and getting promoted and all the accomplishments that they’ve achieved over the last year. It was truly spectacular.

When you are celebrating an anniversary and recovery, all you ever want to do in that moment is be with others in recovery. And this day was a perfect way to celebrate.

Then I went over to the Montachusett Recovery Center where I got to greet several of my current clients who I’ve never met in person but have only seen on Zoom. I also had the joy of seeing another dozen or so original clients who I call the OGs of Recovery Conversations™. People stopped by for a casual visit and told stories, reliving difficult and beautiful moments that we spent together years ago.

Then I drove to my daughter’s house where I had dinner with my two daughters, my son in law, and my grandson. I capped off the night by staying over with my dog Wilson.

It was a beautiful anniversary.

It made me really miss the community that I had developed in Fitchburg, and it won’t be so long before I go back again. It made me so proud of the area to see two recovery centers that weren’t there five years ago be so active in the community. It’s really a community that’s put a lot of effort into working together for the betterment of those seeking recovery.

If you’ve been around Tipping Point™ for even just a short while, you know how much we value community as a key component to recovery.

It’s in that spirit that we will be launching something in the next week that you all will be invited to join—a community gathering space for our Tipping Point friends to connect, engage with, and uplift each other as we move forward on this recovery journey together.

I’ll be in touch with the details soon. Stay tuned.